Floorball for all! - floorball4all.info

Papua New Guinea has had a Floorball kit for a few months now. Silvan from Switzerland, Jukka from Finland and Danny from the USA brought a Floorball kit to Lae. For two weeks they played daily with 35 youngsters that worked at plantations. These youngsters were between 15 and 24 years of age. They were either from the streets, had a history of alcohol and drug dependence or had been released from juvenile prisons. They do not have any family of their own any more and Larry and Bonnie from Australia have taken it upon themselves to get them out of this situation and reintroduce them to everyday life.
Floorball has emerged as the latest aid to make the children and youngsters that we deal with come to grips with a normal life. They went through their regular chores at the sugarcane plantation in the morning, while afternoons made for 1 ½ hours of training and an hour of play. The finale that was held after two weeks was a high point of activities here. Floorball equipment is now used regularly during the afternoons.
         
Larry and Bonnie (Australia) started this work three years ago.  Over this time 110 boys have started living and working at their plantation.  They do not make any money but get a place to sleep and three meals a day. Larry is “Paps“(papa) for the children, the father that they never had.
         

Sharing lives

Papua New Guinea has a very high crime rate. Use of alcohol and drugs is prevalent and very often has devastating effects. One afternoon, I got an insight into their dark lives and uncertain future, while I was sitting around a table with eight of these boys.

“I have killed a man. Will god forgive me?”… “I, along with my friends, have sexually abused an inmate in the prison.”  These were only some of the questions and confessions of guilt that they carry with them.

I was shocked to discover the candidness and honesty of these people. How or what would you have answered?
During the mornings we cut grass and cleared sap from banana trees with them in the plantation. Afternoons were the time for sport. Every alternate day we taught them the new sport of Floorball. This was an indescribably quality time that gave us many unforgettable experiences and new friendships with the boys.


         

Training and games

There was a field in the middle of the plantation that was perfect for playing Floorball. Everyday, around 35 boys turned up for Floorball sessions. They learned fast and were enthusiastic towards the new game. A boy said, “We are the first ones to play this game in entire Papua New Guinea and nobody knew about Floorball before us.” The mood was very good from the beginning to the end.  We had a very well trained Floorball player in Jukka. I along with him took over the training. We were the neutrals on the field, whereas Danny at the edge of the playfield, made friends with the players and encouraged them to play. We had shipped along two standard goalposts that we welded ourselves. We also pieced together kneepads for the goalies.
         

We trained them for one and a half hour and they then played for another hour. The hour long game that followed the training session was always the high point of Floorball sessions. We organized the ‘grand finale’, the final tournament with prizes, on the last day. This event had complete attendance and everyone gave their best. We are happy to know that we can leave all the equipment here and Floorball can continue. Once a week the boys will be playing Floorball in the afternoons. The boys and their in-charge thanked us for our big heartedness and acknowledged the support we had provided them.

Report by Silvan